ICE.COLD.COFFEE

*** Mr Goh ***

That's the name of our new pe teacher for this year. Coincidentally, he's also one of the teachers in charge of swimming. I just found out yesterday (one year after I joined!) when he came for our training session for the first time. He doesn't recognise me though.

Some things he said today and yesterday made a lot of sense. Let me share it with you and hopefully, it'll inspire you too, like it inspired me...

Yesterday, he told all of us that our training was not intensive enough. Because Ding Yong (our captain) could not be too strict with us since we're all friends. If he was too strict, we'll have greater chances of getting into the finals but we'll probably end up hating him too. That's the reason for our training being not intensive enough. And that's why we can't train to the best of our potential.

It would be different with an external coach though. He probably wouldn't care if we hated him or not. That's why he can give us military style training that would be really beneficial to us.

Mr Goh said that when he's with his friends, when it comes to serious work, he can draw the line and be totally serious. But after work, they all become friends and forget the conflicts they have because of their leadership authority in that group.

I think it's something that I can really learn. Right now, sometimes I feel like I can't be too strict or commanding in horti if not I'll afftect the friendships I have. But sometimes, I feel like there's a need to be fierce if work doesn't get done. Being nice all the time gets very little work done.

Somehow, I think that if you're a leader of a group, it's not easy to be a good leader and a good friend at the same time. You have conflicts due to work and it may affect your friendships.

An example would be Ah Ming from Conrad. He's the assistant chef in charge and he can be really fierce when things aren't perfect. After all, in a top hotel, everything has to be flawless. When things are alright though, he can be really fun to be with. But the thing is, I know some people dislike his style of being too fierce. They don't see why he has to be such a perfectionist.

Do you really have to sacrifice some of your friends if you are a leader of that group? That's a question I've been trying to find an answer to.

I've also seen leaders who are great friends as well.

For example, Lu Jia (I know you're reading this. Hahaz...) was the choir president but she was a friend to everyone. Joanne (monitress of 4J) was a wonderful friend and leader as well. I just have to observe how others do it, then hopefully I can get it one day.

I can already feel my friendships in horti being strained because I get angry when people don't do their work.

Also, Melissa and I were in the same class from sec 1 to 4 but ever since she joined horti and became the vice-chair, I feel like we talk about horti almost all of the time. Our relationship is so different from what I have with my other good friends. I'm trying to overcome this though. I want her to be my good friend, not just my partner in horti.

Something else Mr Goh said today also struck me.

Being our new pe teacher, he set the rules and told us what he expects of us on our first lesson today. He told us that we exercise for ourselves, not for him. It's something that most pe teachers miss out on. They always give me the impression that they want us to do well for NAPFA then they won't bother about our fitness level after that. But Mr Goh was different.

He said:

"When I ask you to run 4 rounds, run 5 rounds and you 'gain' one round. Don't run 3 rounds, then think that you 'gained' one round by running less."

These words just made a lot of sense to me. You may not think anything of it, because this is just one of the moments that I hear something that sunddenly strikes me. I never thought of it this way and it'll probably have a great impact on my life. I've had a few of these moments every now and then and these really impact my life even though it's only something small.

He also said that NAPFA can be enjoyable. If you're fit and in good shape, then it would be a chance for you to show off your physical fitness. After hearing that, I decided that I want to train hard. I want to be able to show off for NAPFA!

Mr Goh seems like a really good person. Good meaning a good role model and someone you can look up to.

*** S Papers ***

It's the first day of S (Special) papers and I'm taking Maths and econs. Maths was totally chaotic. I did the wrong questions because I referred to the wrong page. So when Mr Ho was going through the solutions, I was just copying blindly most of the time. It seems so difficult that I don't have confidence in doing well for the final paper.

Mr Ho made it seem so difficult to score a distinction. He said it'll get better later on as we learn more, but I'm not so sure.

Mr Ho is a wonderful teacher by the way. His frankness and weird sense of humour is interesting. He's really straightforward and can be a no-nonsense person sometimes. But when he gets lame, the entire LT can "freeze" in a second. Brr... cold!

For econs S paper, our lecturer (I don't know his name) was really interesting. He's an ang moh and the words he uses are just so amusing. If he and another normal person were to say the same thing, I would probably laugh at the way he says it and not at the other person. It's just amazing the way he phrases his words and how he expresses himself.

He made the entire lecture seem like a story telling session and it was really interesting to listen to him. Maybe it's also because I'm interested in econs, that's why I find it interesting. But towards the end of the lecture, when our attention was fading, it got kinda boring because my brain couldn't really register what he was saying. I was just hearing words but I couldn't comprehend their meaning.

So far, S papers seem interesting, although it's a little intimidating. The lectures today give me the feeling that if I prepare my work before each lesson, it can be really interesting. The S paper is an interlectual challenge. It would be interesting only if I knew the answers.

hi charlynn!!!! im so touched u said i was a gd leader pls. seriously, i felt that i was a bad leader at choir, and even neglected u and never take bus home with u after choir ok. and i always kena scolded by ms lim and mr tan u noe.. say that always shout like a monster, keep asking me to dun shout and just talk gently. really not trying to be modest ok. just saying what i feel. anyway, i also had conflicts with gracelyn during the first month but now we still call one another and go out.. im sure u can be a much better leader then me and be friends with melissa. I HAVE FAITH IN U OK! all the best!

since im here already, so sun bian talk more haaa..
u got miss me not. WHY NEVER ASK ME TO GO OUT WITH U AR?! abandon me at tj?!?! and i saw melissa on the bus yesterday. she said that u and her went to tj to meet entrepreuner club (dunno how to spell). and u never meet with me??? u good! watch out pls. haha k bye! i love ur blog pls.